


The Lady On The Train

by Leelia



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Train AU, fugitive Baekhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 18:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19362502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leelia/pseuds/Leelia
Summary: As Chanyeol takes a train that will take him to another planet, into a new life, he falls head over heels for the Lady he shares his compartment with. The Lady however, seems to be full of mysteries and secrets.





	The Lady On The Train

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here I am again, trying to write a chaptered fic (No, I haven't succeeded until now). It is a train au, and if that didn't exist until now, well, I just invented it. 
> 
> I really do hope that I will actually go through with writing this, as it is an idea I've had for quite a while now. Feedback is very welcome of course, I'd love to hear if there's someone who's as excited about train au as I am haha
> 
> Just a little warning, I don't have a beta, and there won't be regular updates at all.
> 
> This first chapter is more of a prologue, I guess, but please enjoy :)

_“-and then I told my husband, you know, teleport's been around for ages but they're still making it nearly impossible for us low income folk travelling between planets, so we gotta take the train...”_

 

_“Oh but come on, I much prefer trains anyway, takes you a few days but damn, those teleport boxes make me sick, I always feel like throwing up.”_

 

_“But I tell you, the government's playing us all, that technology simply is not that expensive, my nephew studied on planet 10 and he told me that teleport costs nearly nothing nowadays.”_

 

_“Totally right you are. And the nausea. I swear I'm gonna bug customer services about including some pills in the damn teleport price next time. Well we're off those damn mats now, let's forget that shit and board our train.”_

 

Chanyeol hears the bickering old ladies, just as he steps out of his own teleport box.. It's true, teleports cost next to nothing if you teleport between cities on the same planet, but as soon as you want to leave your planet, the prices go through the roof. So coming here by teleport was no issue at all. And were intergalactic teleports not so overpriced, he wouldn't be here right now. Here is the intergalactic train station of planet 5, where the common folk go when they want to travel. Or leave the planet altogether, like Chanyeol.

 

To be honest, there's nothing really left on planet 5 that would make one want to stay. Planet 5 is one of those mining planets, where someone found a mine of some crazy new mineral a few hundred years ago. Then people flooded the planet, built mega-cities. Some got rich. Some worked hard until the end of their days while someone else would reap the fruits of their labour. And then, one day, there was nothing to mine any more, but the people had no place to go, so they stayed.

 

There's stories about planet 5, stories about the old days, when people would go there to find a better life. Movies even, where young miners fall in love with pretty girls and make a fortune. Intergalactic superstars star in them, and the audience eats it up, and dreams of fortune. They know though, that planet 5 is not what it used to be any more. People don't come to planet 5. People leave. Planet 9 is where everyone wants to go nowadays. That's where things are happening, and dreams are lived. It's where nights and days don't exist. It's where people say you can be yourself completely.

 

It's where Chanyeol wants to go. It's where he'll live his dream of becoming a musician. After working dead-end jobs on planet 5, where he hadn't had time for neither family nor friends, he has enough, and finally enough money saved.

 

Walking out of that teleport box is his first step into his new life. The train station is huge and impressive. It looks modern and welcoming, contrary to basically everything else on planet 5. Leaving the teleport boxes, one finds themselves on a platform looking down into a huge hall. On each of the three sides of the rectangular hall is a depiction of the top 3 must visit natural spots in the universe. To Chanyeol's left side, one can see the holy mountains of Cartan, planet 7, to the right side is a picture of the underwater ruins of the city Cur, planet 20, and on the wall opposite to the teleport boxes is the island of Hope, planet 21.

 

Chanyeol has only heard of those places, so he surveys the walls curiously as he takes the escalators down into the hall, nudging his hovercase along. Once he arrives down in the hall, everything seems even bigger. The walls are taller, the ceiling higher. Down there he finds a supermarket, several food stalls, souvenir shops with cheesy little trinkets depicting objects from a past time of planet 5's prime.

 

Then, finally, he finds tables with information about arrivals and departures. Despite having such a grandiose train station, there's not that many trains departing to other planets. Sure, there's a few local trains to cities on the other side of planet 5, for those that dislike long distance teleport. But for intergalactic travel, there's only connection to five different planets. Of course trains to planet 7, 20 and 21 are a must for the countless tourists. And then there's trains to planet 10, known for it's prestigious universities, and planet 9, Chanyeol's destination. The first three destinations are actually not very far from planet 5, and there's several trains departing per day, however, 9 and 10 are much farther away. In fact, the journey to planet 9 will take 9 whole days, the one to 10 would take 9.5 days.

 

Chanyeol has thought about going to planet 10 to get a good education. He would have absolutely loved studying music, getting behind all the complicated theory, and the rich musical history of the whole universe. But alas, education is expensive, so Chanyeol will have to start his career armed only with his guitar and his charms.

 

Chanyeol quickly finds the information about the departure of his train, and is about to turn around to find the direction he needs to go in, as he catches sight of the big television screen next to the information table. They're showing the same story once again, the same story the whole of planet 5 has been talking about for 3 days straight now: A young man murders the presidents son, and flees without a trace. Disappears as if he were no one. The screen shows a blurry picture of the young man as he flees, seconds before his disappearance. His face is not visible, but shortly after, they show an older picture of the suspect. All while flashing his name and the order to catch him and turn him in, alive preferably. Byun Baekhyun, 25, looks like a handsome young guy. Sucks, Chanyeol thinks. What possibly could have moved him to commit such a crime?

 

Chanyeol forgets about that topic soon again though, as he makes his way towards the platform from where his train will depart. As he exits the big hall, everything reminds huge and impressive. He is brought through security control, they scan his hovercase and himself of course. He is deemed safe, so he proceeds to walk through a long hallway with shops along the side. He stops at a bookshop, as he sights a book titled the legend of cur. Why not?, he thinks, as he pays for the book, he'll have enough time to read during his journey, and what could possibly be more interesting than the story of a sunken city?

 

He also buys a coffee to sip as he has to wait another hour or so, until he can board his train. Shortly after, he arrives at another hall, this one is a little smaller. On one side, there are two big desks, that are labelled as check-in and baggage counters. On the other side of the hall are benches where some passengers are already waiting. Chanyeol makes his way to the counters. The one of the right is for the train to planet 9. He already knows that he can drop off his baggage there, so that they'll already bring it into his compartment. He has booked a shared compartment, not really being able to afford the single compartment.

 

The man at the counter welcomes him with a smile and some set phrases about how happy he is that Chanyeol choose to ride with them. After checking Chanyeol's identification documents and train ticket, he lugs Chanyeol's hovercase over the counter, puts some tag on it and gives it a nudge to float through an opening to the back. Before he gives Chanyeol's documents back, he seems to check something again, and lets out a little “Oh.

 

Excuse me sir, but there is a little inconvenience I have to inform you on. We have detected a mistake that must have been committed by the servers, as we found that your department mate is of the female gender. We don't normally allow this, but the lady seems to be in a hurry and has insisted on taking this exact train, and as we are sold out otherwise, there is no other option. However, if you, sir, do have a problem with this, we are fully prepared to exchange your ticket so that you can travel at a later date. We'll even offer you a single compartment as compensation.”

 

Chanyeol stares at the man as he explains, a little confused at first. Riding in a single compartment would be very comfortable of course, but there is no way he will go back to his old apartment, just to sit on his couch and wait for three days until the next train. And, he would never refuse the company of a lady. So he denies, no he doesn't care about sharing a compartment with a lady. But yes, thank you, it's very nice that he gets two vouchers for a meal in the fancy restaurant on board as an apology.

 

The hour after until boarding passes very fast, the waiting area fills more and more, and then they are called to board the train. Chanyeol stands up slowly, throws away his empty cup and makes it to the platform. And there it is, the majestic train that will bring him through the universe, towards planet 9, towards a new beginning, a new home.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Talk to me on twitter here!](https://twitter.com/NLeeLia) bc I'm a little lonely over there and I'll probably talk about any writing progress.


End file.
